A series of articles from a Harvard University researcher claim Coca-Cola helped influence the direction of public health policy in China.
Harvard anthropology professor Susan Greenhalgh, PhD, conducted intensive research into China's health policy, including interviewing Chinese obesity experts and analyzing newsletters. Greenhalgh concluded that a nonprofit with close ties to Coca-Cola helped shift health policy thinking in the country to emphasize physical activity over diet. She published her investigation on January 9 in BMJ and the Journal of Public Health Policy.
"When I reviewed China's policies, I could see them using the very same language Coke did," Greenhalgh told the Harvard Gazette. "For example, they talk about energy balance and making physical activity part of medical treatment or balancing eating and moving ... their policy aligns very well with Coke's interests, and it's out of alignment with some of the policies advocated by the World Health Organization."
